History of the Soapbox

The original soapboxes were actual soapboxes: wooden crates for packing soap that became convenient and portable platforms from which people could speak to their fellow citizens in parks and other places where the public gathered. Perhaps the most famous site for this kind of discourse is London’s Hyde Park, where amateur orators have been gathering since the 1870s.

Soapbox orations have always covered a wide range of topics, but politics has been a perennial favorite. Although the soapbox has gotten a bad rap in recent years—with speakers who do more talking than listening being told to “get down off your soapbox”—soapboxes are still a valid metaphor for the type of authentic discourse that spurs free, open, and spirited debate.